Crunch time for Pack

RENO - It's crunch time in the Western Athletic Conference, and every game has major implications.

Nevada and New Mexico State, who meet tonight at 7:05 at Lawlor Events Center, know what's at stake in these final two weeks of what has been one of the tightest races in WAC history.

Nevada (17-10, 9-4) and New Mexico State (16-12, 9-3), which has won its last five games, are both chasing conference leading Boise State, which is 10-3 and won its 20th game of the season last week.

The Wolf Pack is going for a series sweep against the Aggies. Nevada beat New Mexico State 87-78 in late January, but Nevada coach Mark Fox said that the Aggies are a much better team.

"They have a complete team (now)," Fox said. "They have been together for a while. They are shooting a high percentage, shooting the ball well from 3 and scoring 80 points a game. They defend you and they are physical.

"They are steamrolling people the last few weeks. Marvin (Menzies, NMSU coach) has them playing great. They have great talent and they are playing their best basketball."

Here's a brief look at what the Aggies have done the last five games:

• New Mexico State has beaten San Jose State, Idaho, Boise State, Louisiana Tech and Long Beach State by an average of 23 points a game.

• Against those five teams, New Mexico State has shot 51 percent from the floor and is averaging 34 field goals a contest.

• NMSU is a plus-72 in rebounding, including a plus-29 against Long Beach State and a plus-22 against Boise State.

Justin Hawkins (17), Jonathan Gibson (12.6), Hatila Passos (11.4), Herb Pope (10.9), Fred Peete (10.8) and Jahmar Young (10.3) are all averaging in double figures.

"I think Justin is a candidate for Player of the Year," Fox said. "He's a great player in all facets of the game.

"He can play defense, rebound the ball, shoot the 3, post up people and he can put the ball on the deck. I think he's as complete a player as there is in the conference. We've enjoyed competing against him. He's a guy we have a lot of respect for."

And, it's apparent that first-year coach Marvin Menzies has plenty of respect for the Pack, especially after that first win.

"Nevada is obviously a game we really want to win," Menzies said. "It's crucial in the overall standings. Mark (Fox) and Dave (Carter, associate head coach) do a great job.

"They handled us pretty well here (in Las Cruces). We'll have to make adjustments to give them a better game. They are a big-time foe on the road. We have a little bit of history. Both of us want to win bad.

"We didn't do the things we wanted to do coming into the game. Nevada caused some of that. They were phenomenal in terms of chemistry and they did a good job of keeping the pace of the game the way they wanted. They executed their game plan better than we did."

Menzies said his team is getting better, and much of that he attributes to having a full complement of players at his disposal. The Aggies had just gotten Pope and Passos back right before the first game against the Wolf Pack.

"I think chemistry is a key," Menzies said. "We finally have all our players in place. The guys have now played together for a stretch of seven or eight games.

"Our younger guys are understanding the defensive scheme; how to guard stack screens and back screens."

Menzies said that sort of thing is coached in high school, but the physical element of the college game makes it a lot more difficult.

Nevada has won 35 of its last 38 games at Lawlor, which Menzies alluded to during the WAC teleconference this week.

"We're going to have to play hard and be prepared to match their intensity," Menzies said.

Notes: New Mexico State holds a 14-10 advantage over Nevada in the series between the two former members of the Big West Conference, while the Wolf Pack has won the last two games in the series and five of the last six. Nevada has also won the last three meetings between the two teams played in Reno. .. The Wolf Pack scored a season-low 49 points Saturday at Southern Illinois. Its previous low was 55 points in its Dec. 22 win at Northern Iowa, also a game against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent... The Wolf Pack has outrebounded 13 of its 27 opponents this season (11-2 record in those games) and tied two others. Nevada has climbed to second in the WAC in rebounding (36.4 rpg) and fourth in rebounding margin (+3.1) this year. Nevada is 4-8 this year when getting outrebounded.